alan s 

No start line, no finish line, no course, no rules, no competitors, no awards, different types of bikes, . . . other than those minor issues, commuting to work a race.

groovestew

What, and destroy my perception of being the fastest cyclist in the world?

paul2432

My bike isn't really built for speed (dyno hub, fenders, racks, panniers, etc). I do try to catch people now and then just for fun. If someone passes me I usually just let them go.

Paul

Timothy

I am slightly competitive, if I see someone coming from behind I will pick up the speed and try to stay ahead. Also if I pass more people than people pass me I figure I won the race to work.

jdswitters

I am the slow guy that all of you pass every morning. Your wife/girlfriend pays me off in starbucks gift cards everytime you pass because it helps your self esteem which translates into better performance later on. I will remember to pretend to pass someone and then let them speed up and drop me, might have to get paid extra for that.

Timothy

My wife told me that part of your contract included not telling us.
I see a lawsuit coming.

caloso

And the prize for winning is......you're at work. Congrats.

kire

I rarely feel competitive about it, but people going fast near me do subconsciously get me going faster. I usually slow down as soon as I notice how fast I've gotten. I want to get to work comfortable and relatively dry, so pushing too hard is not in my best interest.

Occasionally I do it out of anger, when someone seems to be going out of their way to be a jerk on a bike and thinks he is justified because he is going faster. One time, while riding on a very wide, fairly empty paved path, I pulled up next to my commuting buddy to have a little chat. There was no one visible in front of us, and there is enough room at that part of the path for 5 bikes to pass comfortably. This guy in spandex with a messenger bag actually shot between us. He was so close I could feel him, and it was definitely closer than you should get to someone without at least some warning.

I was wearing a nice pair of trousers and a tucked in shirt, loaded down with panniers, but that was too much. I excused myself from my friend for a moment and took off in pursuit. My computer was reading about 25mph at one point, which is quite a bit faster than I normally ride on my commute, but I managed to keep up. When he was finally forced to stop for traffic, I was right there next to him and I launched into a lecture about what he did wrong. He blew me off (in fact, he probably heard very little of it: he was wearing headphones the whole time), but it felt good

Definitely the most intense commuting race I ever had, partially made so by my outfit and load.

noisebeam

Pays better than winning an amateur race.

caloso

LOL. Well played.

pallen

I wish I saw other cyclists on my way to work. I see 1 or 2 a week maybe. They are rarely heading my same direction. I passed one a few days back, but it didnt do much for my self esteem. It was one of the guys pedaling the mexican helados carts that probably weigh 75lbs

xtrajack

It is easy to be great in a field of one. In order to race there would have to be someone else around.

Andy_K 

I race in two situations:

1) When I'm pulling out from a traffic light that just turned green and another cyclist who obviously timed it just right passes me in the intersection I can't let it go. If I think I'm faster, I let him get out in front of me a ways and wait for a hill, just to maximize the demoralization factor. (I know, it's petty and sad.)

2) When someone passes me who is obviously faster than I am, I put in the extra effort to try to keep up. In this case, my motives are much better, as it's mainly myself that I'm challenging. In the rare event that I do keep the pace in this scenario, I don't pass unless the other cyclist appears to want me to.

In general, I don't even pass other cyclists unless they're going much slower than I would and/or it seems like I'm making them uncomfortable by being behind them.

xiyangshen

The other night I'm riding home up a rather long and variable twisty hill and I see a headlight behind me. Way back there. So, I pick it up a notch. A couple bends later I see they are a little closer, sooo, I pick it up some more.
Huf huf huf
Look back again and he's still gaining on me.
So.
I've got 1 more turn in the hill and I stand on it! I'm short of puking but not by much.
Next turn HE'S STILL THERE, and gaining!
So.
I come to the realization that this must be some cat 2 biker and I back off, admitting defeat and wait for the inevitable blow by of a superior rider.

Then I am passed by a fellow maybe 10 years my senior, (and I'm no spring chicken but I am in pretty good shape) sitting upright, casually pedaling along on his ELECTRIC assisted bike!
I tried not to sound too winded when I said "hi" as he passed.
Sheesh

Andy_K 

This is great advice, and I can personally attest that it's a lot of fun even if you're slow. The one change I'd make is the link. Most of you will have to move for this, but I think it's worth it.

caloso

That's true. I did a Monday night PIR race last summer and it was excellent. Good, hard, clean racing on excellent pavement. A great time.

Andy_K 

That's funny. That happened to me once, except I was chasing the guy on the electric bike. It didn't dawn on me until later why his rack looked funny. I was catching him on a flat stretch and planned to pass just as we got to a hill. I gave it everything I had, but just couldn't close the gap.

Andy_K 

Yeah, the scene here is fantastic, but the real treasure is our officials. Where else do CX races get scored (and corrected, if necessary) 200+ deep?

groovestew

No shame in being passed by an electric-assist bike going uphill. Maybe on flat ground there is...

This summer, I passed a woman on an electric-assist bike going uphill, but she was letting the bike do all the work (and the bike sounded like it was working pretty hard).

AdamDZ

Lots of fixies pass me on the way up the bridge but then I smok'em, using all my momentum and the fastest gear, on the other side on the way down as they struggle to keep their bike under control, I get low and aero to offset for the panniers aerodynamic drag and zoooooommmm

Drew Eckhardt 

Nope.

My commute is the bulk of a high-intensity low volume training program which is at most an individual time trial.

MileHighMark

Everyone passes me. The wannabe racers never utter a word when doing do, but many of the ones sporting actual team kit usually say something in passing.

Maybe there's a fantasy prime out there for guys who overtake a rider on a 32-pound steel touring bike that's equipped with panniers...